June 21, 2007 — A problem area suspected of providing a haven for criminals got cleaned up Thursday through the efforts of the government’s Abandoned Car and Beautification Task Force, according to a Government House news release.
A group under the direction of St. Thomas-Water Island Administrator Barbara Petersen cleared through an area around Al Cohen’s Mall in Havensight after increasing complaints by business owners of robberies, vehicle vandalism and other criminal acts in and around the mall. Over time, the heavily brushed area behind the mall had become living space for squatters.
“No one was at the site when the multi-agency task force moved in this morning,” Petersen said Thursday night.
Officials believe up to 10 people called the area home, the news release said. They had moved in with clothes, bedding material and food supplies. Task force members brought in backhoes, dump trucks and other heavy equipment to clear through the brush and remove the squatter’s personal effects.
Task force members included representatives of Environmental Health, Fire, Police, Public Works, Licensing and Consumer Affairs, the Waste Management Authority and the Agriculture department.
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